Tuesday, October 04, 2005
 kanye west
late registration
produced by jon brion and kanye west
roc a fella records
on the season premier of saturday night live last weekend, the writers filmed mr west come out of his dressing room and walk around backstage before his performance. standing by the coffee and donuts in the back, he just so happened to run into none other than mr mike myers, snl alum and west's screenmate during the hurricane katrina relief telethon where kanye made his now infamous statements, including "president bush doesnt care about black people."
this moment was probably one of snl's cleverest instance of juxtaposition and social commentary ever. and kanye didnt even say a word.
mr west has become quite a polarizing figure in both the music industry and in american culture in general. the hip hop appreciating public talk about kanye because he makes hit records, not only for himself, but for anyone and everyone that he works with. that list is too long and too diverse and too talented to go in this space.
but the way that musicians, or actors, or athletes cross over into the psyche of mainstream america is through force of character and personality. too often, the mass media will address these quais household names only when they piss someone off by being either arrogant or stupid, and wholly unapologetically so. barry bonds and colin ferrell are two good examples of this phenomenon.
mr west's debut album, college dropout was not only critically acclaimed and wildly successful commericially, it did what no hip hop album had done before. it presented the hyper macho self promoting shouting black man with a mic and a quieter, self-conscious, introspective intellectual in the same breath. the world was amazed, and word spread fast that this college dropout would change the face of music forever.
late registration does nothing but support this idea ten fold. kanye's staple beatmaking style, which combines heavily effected soul samples over melodically instrumental tracks are found on two thirds of the album, but never sound dated or over done. 'golddigger,' 'gone' and 'diamonds' are all shining standouts with that classic kanye feel. he brings along on other tracks a familar crew of friends, including jayz, jamie foxxx, consequence, and glc, all of whom made appearances on the first album as well. on top of the regulars, kanye also brings into the fold some newcommers, like the game, nas,paul wall, adam levine of maroon 5, brandy and camron. all in all, a motley crue indeed.
west's second album is not just college dropout 2005 however. kanye's rapping skills have matured exponentially, while his lyrical style and self-exposing content have never been more keen. west also pushes the production of this album to another level, no doubt the result of working with the multitalented and eccentric jon brion. the most convincing change in kanye's beats stems from more melody and musical movement in his tracks. horns, strings, pianos and the like populate nearly all tracks. the last time the music world talked about a producer/rapper who changed the game with melody and pop sensibility, it was dr. dre's the chronic. that album is nothing short of legendary, and in a few years, hip hop fans might say the same thing about late registration as well.
two thumbs way up. enjoy.
posted by accident at 10:21:00 PM +
 
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